Malonzo gets chance to shine

With starting center Kai Sotto out of the picture, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone will get a chance to test the mettle of his remaining big men against Middle Eastern rivals in a series of friendlies in Doha.

Gilas safely arrived in the Qatari capital Thursday for a five-day training camp in preparation for the third window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier happening later this month.

A grueling three-game schedule awaits Gilas in the 2nd Doha Invitational Cup starting with a showdown with Qatar early Saturday (1:30 a.m. Manila time).

The 7-foot-3 Sotto is expected to sit out the rest of the year as he recovers from surgery after sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament last month while playing in the Japan B.League.

This means that Cone will have to make do with the pieces he has heading into the qualifying games on the road against Chinese- Taipei on 20 February and New Zealand on the 23rd.

Luckily, Gilas has welcomed the return of injured mainstays Jamie Malonzo and AJ Edu as well as the inclusion of Barangay Ginebra forward Troy Rosario to help veteran center June Mar Fajardo.

“We’ll be missing Kai, but the good news is we’re going to have AJ and Jamie back,” Cone said.

Malonzo missed Gilas’ FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the second leg of the Asia Cup qualifiers last after undergoing a calf surgery.

“Jamie continues to rounding to form in terms of his game. He’s fine physically,” Cone added.

The 6-foot-10 Edu, on the other hand, will play under Cone for the first time.

Edu, actually, joined Gilas for the second window last November but sat out the two-game leg after hurting his knee in his Japan B.League stint.

“AJ is really the target. We felt he needed more games before we go to the FIBA Asia in August. So, we’re excited bringing AJ to the fold,” Cone said.

The decorated tactician also bares his intention to take a different approach in utilizing his frontcourt defensively in an interview with One Sports’ “Play by Play”.

“In the meantime, we just got to do a different approach. AJ Edu is going to join us for the first time. He’s a great defensive player. Jaime is going to join and he’s a really good defensive wing,” he said.

Offensively, Cone is confident naturalized player Justin Brownlee, Fajardo, Dwight Ramos and guards Scottie Thompson and Chris Newsome will hold the fort.

Edu and Malonzo will take care of the interior defense.

“So, we’re hoping those guys can really elevate our defense and contribute that way,” he said.

After facing the host squad, Gilas clashes against Lebanon at 11 p.m. tonight before facing Egypt at 1:30 a.m. on 17 Feb. (Manila time).

Gilas is already assured of a seat in the FIBA Asia Cup main draw in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 5 to 17 August after sweeping the first two windows for a 4-0 win-loss record in Group B